Egypt contacts 'several parties' to avoid escalation in Middle East

Egyptian Foreign Minister, Badr Abdelatty, said on Monday that Cairo is continuing "its intense efforts" and is in contact with "several parties" to end the violence and avoid an escalation in the Middle East.

"Egypt continues its intensive efforts with various stakeholders in the region to urge them to exercise maximum restraint and comply with the imperative to avoid an escalation" of violence, Abdelatty said after a meeting in Abu Dhabi with his Emirati counterpart, Abdullah bin Zayed.

He said his meeting with Bin Zayed focused on "the crisis in the Gaza Strip" and efforts to reach a truce between Israel and the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas, as well as the situation in Lebanon where - he stressed - "we will have to work together to avoid an open war between Lebanon and Israel, the consequences of which are uncertain."

"The aim is to preserve the security, stability and interests of the peoples of the region and prevent them from falling into a vicious circle of conflict and violence," he added, according to a statement from the Egyptian Foreign Ministry.

Egypt is mediating with the United States and Qatar to reach a truce between Israel and Hamas, and in recent weeks it has reached out to Iran and Lebanon to avoid an open war in the Middle East.

Fears of an escalation have been growing following the elimination in Tehran of the former head of the political bureau of the Palestinian Islamic terrorist group, Ismail Haniyeh, in an attack attributed to Israel, as well as the top military commander of the Lebanese terrorist group Hezbollah, Fuad Shukr, in an attack claimed by the Jewish state, both in late July.

Abdelatty is scheduled to meet his Syrian counterpart Faisal al-Miqdad in Cairo on Monday, in a meeting announced before Damascus announced the death of 14 people and the wounding of 43 others in a series of Israeli bombings last night against several areas in central Syria.

On Monday, the High Representative of the European Union (EU) for Foreign Affairs, Josep Borrell, will begin an official trip in Cairo that will also take him to Lebanon to contribute to efforts to address the crises in the region.

Borrell will be received on Monday by Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al Sisi and will travel to the Egyptian town of Rafah to meet with representatives of UN agencies and inaugurate an EU-funded project to help children in Gaza and those who care for them in Egypt. Aurora and EFE